A Clashing of Minds
by DaesGatling
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin schemes to put the princess from "The Princess and the Pea" into a position of power so he has someone he can control on the throne. There's just one problem; she doesn't want it. No romantic pairing between the two.
1. Chapter 1

Dagmar was the daughter of kings but due to the fallen state of her lineage one would not know it. It was hardly a bragging point to her anyway, when one lived in filth as she had all her life it was not as if one would believe her anyway. Every woman thought she was a princess at one point or another. Of course Dagmar…WAS a princess but her hopes of attaining that status had about as much a chance of happening as it did for the children she'd grown alongside.

And so she grew up…probably physically different than what the royals looked like. She grew tall and thin and her hands and feet here calloused from working them practically to the bone every day for just a little hope of food to grow in the soil or for the sheep and pigs to survive long enough to feed them for the winter.

She figured that a royal didn't look like what she did, although she had never met one. Her family lived at the base of the dark mountain since she was fifteen that was true enough but they lived on the other side of it. Away from the path that most of those in need of that twisted imp traveled. Dagmar figured that she could go and watch and see a royal for herself but it just felt like it would waste time needed to work.

When she was seventeen, her life changed. A plague took her village and she watched as her people…her family and friends all started to succumb and die one by one. She lost her baby brothers first; and then her father and her mother next.

And so when she tried to close off her grieving emotions and focus on logic she found herself at a problem. She would become ill soon, it was only a matter of time. She needed ot leave but that cost money and no one was stepping foot near her village anymore to barter.

Madness took her, which was the only explanation for what happened next. Under normal circumstances she would look at this idea for what it was. A stupid idea by a desperate girl, but she was so wracked by grief and fear at her own mortality that anything seemed like a good idea. What did she have to lose anyway? Her life? It was forfeit if she stayed here and she dind't have the money to go anywhere else…

She looked up the mountain and remembered a story her parents had told her. They'd given Rumpelstiltskin the golden fleece of their ancestors. It was the only thing they had to prove their heritage but it was one of the things he'd demanded if they wanted to live at the base of his mountain unchallenged.

His promise of their safety hadn't protected them from illness though.

That fleece could set her up for life if she got ahold of it. She supposed it could be used to prove her heritage but she hardly wanted that. What did she know about ruling a kingdom? That would just be insane.

Taking it back from the Dark One was a much better solution.


	2. Chapter 2

The best thing about the Dark Castle in Rumpelstiltskin's mind was that it was connected to him. It was odd to explain but it…knew his thoughts, it knew his wants. HE never had to clean…or cook…or wash anything because somehow the house and the power that surrounded it provided those things if he really wanted it. The kitchen was always stocked, the food never spoiled. The dust was cleared away if it bothered him. He woke up every morning to find that his clothes were waiting for him; folded and pressed.

The garden was especially his favorite. Years of magic from the previous dark ones had ensured that only the most beautiful and green plants grew. NO weeds choked them, the soil never died. It was his favorite part of the magic because he knew that nothing would grow naturally with him nearby. It was one of the drawbacks for being the Dark One. IT had taken 354 spells to get the castle to be the way it was and Rumpelstiltskin was glad that he didn't have to be the one to put it all together. IT was much better to live luxuriously from the works of the others.

Besides, he had more work to do and he was grateful that he didn't have anything else to focus on while he was getting everything set in place.

However all that paled in comparison to the best part of the castle. IT wasn't his favorite part but it certainly had its uses.

It was the castle's….security system. No matter where he was in the realms, he knew that he could leave his doors unlocked and no one would dare mess with his home. Because if someone even took a step over the border that was his land, he immediately knew about it.

Which was why, one evening, when he was dealing in King George's realm, he knew someone was at his house trying to steal the Golden Fleece.

Oh, he wasn't going to let that stand.

IT was so easy for him to be in one part of the enchanted forest and then step into another part of it hundreds of miles away. IT was his favorite trick because it was the first one that he'd mastered.

The cloaked figure had their back to him when he stepped from the mud hut of the weeping widow that he'd told he couldn't do anything for and stepped right onto the wooden floor of his castle.

No, he wouldn't' allow that to happen. He needed that just in case.

"You made a big mistake today dearie." He hissed. The figure jumped and turned. HE saw that whoever it was kept a scarf tied around their face so that he couldn't see who it was.

Oh, like that would stop him. The figure tried to race toward the door and he snapped his fingers and pointed. The thief's legs flew out from under them and hit the ground with a loud thud.

He hated dealing with thieves. When he killed them and mounted them for the world to see it was always months before someone would deal with him and he had a feeling he was going to be implementing his plan in about ten years or so. He couldn't afford any delays.

He stormed over and pulled the cloak off so that he could see their face clearly before he killed them.

An emotionless brown haired brown eyed seventeen year old girl stared back at him. He knew the look in her eyes immediately. He'd seen it enough times in his life. IT was the look of someone that was either giving up on life or who had a suicide wish.

But he saw something more and he quietly rejoiced because fate smiled down at him.

He knew who she was and the opportunity that had eluded him for so long now presented itself and he realized that it couldn't have been a better.

However for now he was going to pretend he didn't know about the blood of Kings that flowed in her veins, "What's your name?"

"Are you going to kill me?"

"No," He said and knelt down to her level, "I have a better use for you."

She paled and he scoffed, "Oh for the sake of the gods, I don't want you for _that_."

"Then what do you want?" she demanded.

"I'm certainly not going to kill you, I've thought of a better punishment for you after what you just tried to do."

"And what's that?"

He smirked, "I'll tell you at breakfast."

He waved his hand and she looked around to find that they were both sitting in a small dungeon room, "Wouldn't it just be easier to tell me here?"

"Easier for you perhaps," he giggled, "Consider your wait compensation for the emotional trauma you just caused me."

"Emotional trauma," she muttered.

"Of course little one," he mocked, "If a decent hardworking man can't come home to his nice comfy house without the threat of someone taking what belongs to him then what is the world coming to?"

"Oh, I'm sure you're an authority on taking things that don't truly belong to you."

So she did have a death wish, he mused, interesting. He looked forward to hearing about that in the morning.

"Sleep well dearie," he said in his high pitched familiar voice, "I'd try to fall asleep as fast as possible though. The bedbugs come out sometime after midnight and well…if you saw how big they got after living down here then you'd never sleep again."

He practically skipped out the door.

Some evenings it was fun to be him.


	3. Chapter 3

The tension at the breakfast table was terribly one sided and it wasn't Rumpelstiltskin's. HE was having the time of his life right now, "Why aren't you eating?"

The girl eyed the food that he'd laid out on the table, "This is more food than I've ever seen in my life."

You better get used to it.

He gave her his best mocking smile. She hadn't slept well last night, the ragged exhaustion on her face was obvious, "You need to eat, child. I worked hard to get this prepared for you."

"You waved your hand."

"I didn't have to. You could starve for all I care."

"If you wanted me dead, you'd have killed me."

"True," He examined her. Oh, he had so much work to do. She wasn't that attractive, and she sat with one leg drawn to her chest and the other on the chair as if she was about to sit cross legged. That combined with the tunic and pants made him realize that she wasn't exactly noble material. It would probably be easier to put a square peg in a round hole but he would do it.

"So then what do you want?" She asked. He saw the tremor in her hands before she quickly put them under the table. She was terrified and she had every right to be. What he was about to ask her to do was probably worse than death itself for some people.

"I think you know that you're more than just a little butcher girl."

She looked up sharply, "As amusing as it is to pretend I could be a princess from a faraway land, I have to say that reality set in for me before puberty."

"Oh stop playing the fool with me," he snapped, his generosity was wearing thin, "I can smell the nobility in your blood from here."

She furrowed her eyebrows, "How does _that_ work?"

"Just another of my magical abilities," he hissed, "But you don't carry yourself as a princess. I'll bet you've never even seen a castle until last night."

"What exactly are you planning to do to me?" she demanded.

"I'm going to do something far worse than killing you," he said and took a bite of some bacon, "I'm going to make you queen."

She choked on her eggs, "You want to do what?"

"And exchange for letting you live and giving you a place of power, then you will proceed to do everything I say."

"Why can't I just give you my spot on the throne and we call ourselves even?"

"Because if I do that then there will either be civil war, assassination attempts, or everyone will try to leave and I am far too busy to rule a kingdom anyway."

"And you think I want to?"

He narrowed his eyes, "You don't want to be a queen?"

"It's never been on my list of things to do, no."

Of course of all the fallen royalty in all the realms, he got stuck with one like _her, _"What kind of girl are you? I thought all you women wanted to be a queen."

"I don't. Have you seen how you all are? Pompous and arrogant, pretending they know what's best for everyone-"

"Which is why you would fit in extremely well," he said with a smirk, "Two out of three isn't bad for a beginner."

"What if I don't?"

"Then I'm perfectly within my rights to throw you in the dungeon for the rest of your life. Which considering you were in the village with the plague shouldn't be too long."

"I'm not sick."

"Are you sure about that?" he smiled as she paled, "How was that dungeon anyway?"

"I thought it was a bit too cold for my taste."

"Well when you steal from a powerful being's house, you can't exactly complain about the living conditions should they decide to spare you."

"The fleece doesn't belong to you."

"It was a rent payment," He said, "They lived there safely did they not?"

"No, because they're dead," she said, "Which means the deal was broken-."

"Everyone _dies, _dearie," he said mockingly, "And that wasn't the deal. What was the deal was that I'd keep them safe from anyone coming to look for them. A natural disease wasn't part of the agreement."

She glared, "My family is dead."

"Yes, you told me."

"I have no one."

"Well then what a perfect time for a new beginning."

She studied him, "Are you responsible for the plague?"

"No," he said and grabbed a biscuit, "I've been looking to get hold of you for a very long time but this wasn't my doing."

She straightened up, "What did you just say?"

He ignored her, "It was an illness come from the north. Trust me dearie, nothing good comes from the north here."

She paled, "You've been trying to get your hands on me?"

"When you were a baby, yes," he said casually, "But your father was adamant about keeping you. Giving you over so they could live in safety was unthinkable; good to see that there are still fathers like that around. He gave me a golden fleece instead. Horrible investment I thought; what good was it going to do sitting there gathering dust? I think it worked out better than I anticipated."

"Why am I important to you?" she demanded.

"Well, because you're going to be queen someday of course," He giggled and watched her flinch. He needed to figure out if that fear was going to be a curse or a blessing. If she feared him then she would do what he told her. But at the same time he would never establish the trust that he needed to have with her since they were now going to be dealing for a long long time.

"And what's in this for me if I agree to go through with this?"

"Then perhaps I won't turn you into that when your usefulness runs out," He nodded to the two hideous things displayed for the world to be horrified at.

She paled, "Those are hideous. What on earth did they do to you in order to make you _that _angry?"

"Wrong place, wrong time. You can relate," he smiled, "SO do we have a deal, dearie?"

He saw her jaw clench, "As fun as pretty dresses, making laws, preventing wars, arranged marriages and popping out heirs sounds, sir, I think I'd rather just die of the plague."

She stood and he frowned when she walked back towards her cell.

"I'm pretty sure that wasn't your final answer," he called to her as she walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the evening before Rumpelstiltskin went down to her cell to try and get her stubborn pigheaded will to bend.

Gods, she acted like she had free will or something.

He gestured to the door and watched it fly open. He supposed he could've just opened it himself but what was the fun in magic if he couldn't use it for the little things too?

She sat on the bed with the blanket wrapped around her. She as sweating but shivering as well. The plague had her; it wouldn't be long before she succumbed like her parents, "Feeling cooperative yet?"

"Will you not at least let me die in peace?" she demanded.

"Of course not," he walked over and leaned an arm against the wall, "You know this death of yours isn't going to be an easy one. Are you really willing to die in a dungeon as a shriveled up shell of what you used to be? Somehow this is preferable to being royalty?"

"Yes."

He gave an exasperated roll of her eyes, "And why is that?"

"At least I'd still die with my freedom."

"Ah," he said with a sneer, "So you want to play the martyr?"

"I know what it's like in the court," she sat up angrily, "And I know what it'd be like to play your puppet."

"I care not for most decisions you would have to make," he said and tried to suppress a yawn, "If you called me for council I would give it but other than the decisions I tell you to make I don't care about how you would run your realm."

"No, but then I'd have to worry about the husband that I'd no doubt have to be stuck with making the rest of them while I sit on the side popping out heirs for a husband that I neither love nor remotely care about."

He scoffed and sat on the bed next to her, "Is THAT was this is all about? Don't be precious; you don't have to have a husband if you don't want one. In fact I'd rather you didn't, that way I can control some things as I see fit, but it's not imperative that you don't marry."

"They would assassinate me."

"You're under my protection. They try to touch you and I'll skin them alive for your enjoyment."

She shuddered, "I don't think I would enjoy that."

He shrugged, "Well I would."

"Charming," she muttered.

"Oh, I've done worse," he said, as if that were something to be proud of, "Being a royal isn't so bad. It's a lot better when you're allied with me."

"I'd still be giving up my freedom," she said, "I'd have people watching me…relying on my decisions…"

"It's called responsibility, it's time you insane kids learned some of that," he said and examined his nails.

She studied him, "I do this and I live?"

"That is the arrangement."

"How do I know that you won't find a way to benefit while I suffer from some loophole that I didn't consider?"

"You don't. But I think the fact that you're under my thumb is enough of a punishment, don't you?"

"And I face the rest of my life like this?"

"Of course dearie, if I save your life then you owe me a life debt. Your life of servitude is what anyone in my position demands by default."

She closed her eyes and sighed, this decision was obviously a hard one for her. Rumpelstiltskin couldn't understand why. His life was great and a lot easier since he'd moved to his castle. But of course his castle was enchanted; it might be a different story in a boring normal one.

"I don't want to die."

That was good enough for him, "Deal!"

He put his palm against her head and healed her from her plague, "Oh and don't try to weasel out of this dear. If you don't do what I tell you then your illness will come back tenfold."

"Somehow I'm thinking that would be preferable."

He gave a high pitched giggle and clapped his hands together, "I think you and I shall be marvelous friends."

She looked at him like she'd rather take the tenfold plague.

"You will eat down here tonight," He said and stood, "While I find you a decent room and conjure you up a bath. After breakfast tomorrow we shall begin."

"Began what?" she asked.

"Why, begin lessons of course," he said like she was the most idiotic person in the forest, "We can't send you off to the castles with no idea how to conduct yourself, now can we? What kind of a mentor would I be if I did that?"

"What would you know about royalty and how they conduct themselves?"

He stopped and turned to her, "You are facing an uphill battle against the family in place of you on the throne. They are soldiers and warriors. IF they sense that you are an outsider or an imposter, they will try to put your head on a stake. I'd rather not we start a battle with them just yet. We're going to do things a bit differently; you're going to convince them that you're one of them before you inform that family that you'd like your throne back."

She stared at him, "I can't do that."

"Yes you can; how hard can it be? So what if you have an entire army after you if you fail? You'll have me so I'm pretty sure they'll be evenly matched."

"I think I want my plague back."

"Too late," He said in a singsong voice, "A deal's a deal dearie and you can't back out of it."

He conjured up some food for her as he walked out the door.

He was going to need his rest as well; he had plenty of work to do.


	5. Chapter 5

The girl held onto the saddle so tightly that Rumpelstiltskin was certain that her hands were going to lose all circulation and he'd have a harder time training her.

"Don't hold onto the saddle, hold onto the reins," he said from his seat and took a sip of his flask, "Clench the saddle with your thighs. Remember if you fall off then you'll break something and you have to spend a longer time with me.

He was going to teach her how to ride like a lady if it was the last thing he did. Of COURSE she had ridden a horse before. But it certainly wasn't the noble beast that he'd purchased for her and brought here. The sight of the animal sent her into near hyperventilation.

"That's not a horse, that's a monster!" she said as he half dragged her over there.

"He's been trained to follow even the smallest commands, he's a baby," he said and practically threw her up there.

Rumpelstiltskin supposed he should stop tormenting her like this but in his mind this was payback. He knew that she had put salt in his sugar cup on purpose when serving him tea. And that in turn was retaliation for him shocking her every time she reached for the wrong utensil when he was teaching her how to eat dinner.

"There are too many bloody forks and knives and spoons!" she said angrily when she was shocked for the tenth time, "Why can't we just use one of each?"

"Because they're rich, not practical," he said. He had eaten nothing because she would watch him and try to cheat, "Try again."

He still hadn't gotten the taste of salt out of his mouth thanks to that vicious little demon. The smug look on her face was evident as he drank the rest of the contents of the pot casually. He wasn't going to give her the benefit of seeing him spit it out. That was fine though. He had plans for her that morning and in came the horse.

He didn't stick her on there to be COMPLETELY cruel though. Even though he thought it was pretty fun watching her shoot glares as she struggled to hold on and concentrate at his every command. Kings and queens rode these monstrosities to appear larger than life. She was no longer a butcher's daughter, she was royalty. If she was royalty then she needed to learn how to act like one and that included riding and eating. If she didn't learn how then she'd look like a fool. If he tormented her here it was for her own benefit. She'd learn faster.

Finally at noon, she'd learned well enough for him to allow her to dismount. The animal was bigger than she was, so he caught her elbow and helped her down. He didn't realize how much it had taken out of her until he saw her walk. Her legs were shaking and she was walking oddly from saddle-sore.

And a small part of the old him felt ashamed. This was to be a queen, she was going to be a lady and more importantly she was to be his ally. He was taking her out of her element and trying to force her into a mold that she was obviously ill fitted for. He had to admit that he knew how that felt in an odd sort of way.

"You know," he said and used a wave of his hand to open the door. She was walking slowly but he didn't assist her. He knew she wouldn't let him, "In a way, I do know how you feel."

"Then that makes you a hypocrite with how you treat me I suppose," she said. Her knowledge that he wouldn't kill her as long as she did what he ordered made her realize that she could most likely say anything she wanted. He supposed he could mute her when she did this but he didn't bother. At least she was entertaining.

"I was forced into a position I was unready for. Just as you are. I lost everyone I loved once as well and I was so near rock bottom that I could only hope to look up. The only option I had was to force myself to take on the responsibility given to me and make the best out of it."

"Except you don't have to force me to do anything," she said.

"Well where else are you going to go?" he questioned, "You survived for a reason."

"I don't believe in that," she said.

"Too bad," he told her, "Because I've been here long enough to know that destiny and fate exist. You survived a plague long enough to find me. Your father refused to let me take you off his hands when you were a child to raise you like you needed to be raised and yet at the end of the day here you are."

"Fate doesn't exist," she repeat, "It's just all coincidence of which happen to fall in place at the right time and enough people just happen to notice."

Oh, she was boring.

He frowned and watched her walk ahead, "I'll eat and we'll get started."

"No," he said and realized this was his attempt to try and atone for putting her on such an animal so early, "Eat and take a hot bath. Relax for the rest of the day."

She studied him and narrowed her eyes, "Why?"

He wasn't about to tell her that he'd been struck with a feeling of being merciful; "It's far too hot outside to keep watching you nearly breaking your neck."

Maybe he could stomach being nice to her later.


	6. Chapter 6

Dagmar hated Rumpelstiltskin with the heat of a thousand suns.

But that didn't mean she didn't respect him. She realized early on that he wasn't putting her on the throne for a 'just in case' measure. He was putting her there because he knew that he WOULD need her and he WOULD call on any favors that she was going to owe him now that he had spared her life and given her everything she needed to be a queen.

He had a plan, he could think several steps ahead of her…ahead of everyone and she could respect that

And with that respect also came trust. He was horrible to her most of the time and he was manipulative but he promised that he'd keep her safe and there was something about his promise that made her believe he would keep her safe.

Did she even want to be queen? Or was her reluctance a front because there was a part of her that swore that she'd drag her feet with whatever Rumpelstiltskin forced her to do?

She was in the courtyard when he found her. He was wearing a simple gold shirt with a red vest. Dagmar was never sure how he managed to fit in those leather pants every day since they always looked like they were painted on his body.

"Was that one of my pigs?" he asked she worked with what was left of the animal that she'd killed earlier.

"Yes," she said without looking up.

"Why did you murder one of my pigs?"

She slammed the cleaver down, "Because we're having ham tonight."

"I can conjure ham."

"No you can't, your ham is bland and there's no seasoning and I nearly got sick off it."

He looked at the dead animal and pouted, "Don't you realize how much one of those pigs are worth?"

"Then conjure another one if it's such a big loss. You have eight more, you'll be fine."

"Not with you in the house apparently."

She shot him a glare and continued working.

"Leave it," Rumpelstiltskin said and opened the back door with a wave of his hand, "We have work to do."

"I don't want to ride the horse today."

we He He stopped and looked at her, "I'm not sure if you know how this thing works. It's called 'obedience' which means that I'm going to give you an order, and you do it."

"I have spent countless hours doing what you told me to do and you know what?" she slammed the cleaver on the table, "I still know little about being a queen. I can eat a meal, and look pretty on a horse. Oh, and I finally figured out where all those underclothes go under these dresses but I don't know how to be queen. I don't know about the alliances I should have, the wars I should wage or famine or how to help other kingdoms from famine. I know nothing about strategy-."

"I told you I would council you."

"But you're not going to be there every day, are you? And even if you did come when I called, what's the point of having me if you could just rule this yourself. I am going to be…completely alone if…_when _I take over that kingdom. I won't have any friends in that court; I won't have any allies there. So I'm going to have to be thinking ahead of everyone else. Like you do."

"Except I'm the Dark One child, there's a difference between how my mind works and how yours does."

"Then teach me the best you can," she said and started thinking quickly, "AT the base of the mountain, they say that every year, most of the nobility of the realms get together to talk alliances and introduce children and plans to help their kingdoms and things like that"

"That's true," he said, "It's stupidly reckless though, and more often than naught, it ends with a stupid dispute that gets most people killed because they bring a war on."

"I want to go."

"I don't think you could handle all that hot air in one palace," he scowled, "And you are not ready."

"I need to know my enemy," she said, "And my allies. I want to get a sense of who I can trust and who I can't before they realize who I am."

He sighed, "And you say you know little about strategy. Alright dearie, if you think you're ready, I'll take you."

Dagmar blinked, "Am I ready?"

"Oh, not by a longshot but you need to see what you're against because I'm quite tired of you fighting this every step of the way. This might help you."

She cut the rest of the meat up, "Or make me run away in terror."

"Either way, I do think it's time to look at what you're facing."


	7. Chapter 7

The ballroom of the castle was filled with a hundred different fashions in a hundred different colors. Some of them so bright that Dagmar couldn't understand how they got that color without some kind of magic being involved.

Nor did she understand how some of those women got some of those figures without their corsets being tied so tightly that any startle would probably result in them fainting.

Dagmar wore a gold dress that accentuated the curves of her hips. Rumpelstiltskin told her that if she was single and young most people would be looking at her hips in a way to judge how well she could carry future heirs. That wasn't what she wanted, but Rumpelstiltskin snapped that if he had to endure this party tonight then she had to endure them judging her baby birthing ability.

The gold on the dress was deliberate. Rumpelstiltskin used the gold he spun to create a dress as a link back to him. IT was also a call back to the Golden Fleece that got her into the mess in the first place.

Rumpelstiltskin had even designed her hair like a queen of her ancestors. At least that's what he told her, he could've been making it up as he went for all she knew.

So she was a walking sign, wonderful.

"You know if you wanted to retire from being the dark one, you could always be the one that designs these clothes for me," she said.

"Don't insult me in public," He snapped, "And observe, don't start any conversations if you don't have to."

"You told me," she said and wanted to add that he'd told her three times just before they left but she supposed that count as insulting him and he'd take her back home.

"I have business that I Need to conduct that would bore you," he said and patted her on the shoulder, "Remember what I've told you-."

"Converse with no one and eat nothing," she said turned around, "I'll be observing."

There were so many bloody royal families and servants that no one paid her any mind. If it wasn't for the double number of guards and hired bodyguards, one could just slip in here with a knife and take care of some business

A group of screeching children bumped into her leg and disappeared among the men and women.

Brats.

She moved over to the food table and stared at the mounts of amazing smelling variety. There were deer meat and horse meat and sheep and pork and beef and chicken, as well as potatoes and green beans and peas and carrots and apples, grapes, watermelons, strawberries, grapefruits, several others that she didn't recognize.

This table here could find her entire village for the winter and probably longer.

The dessert table had several kinds of cakes and breads there and she felt her mouthwatering at the sight of it. Rumpelstiltskin had told her not to eat anything as more than one year someone poisoned pieces of individual food as an attempt to kill off some of the royal families. They never knew who did it and Rumpelstiltskin would rather she NOT take that risk.

She didn't know why he couldn't examine it but she supposed he didn't want her bothering him while he ran around conducting deals.

"Tough decision isn't it?" She looked up to see a handsome blondish brown haired man in royal attire smile at her, "You want to try everything but you know that your stomach would never be able to handle it."

"Yes, it's certainly one of the more important decisions ones like you will ever be able to face," she said sarcastically but said it with a smile so that he couldn't tell.

He tilted his head like a puppy that Dagmar had owned once, "I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"How would you know?" she asked.

He raised his eyebrows in amusement, "My name is Prince James, son of King George of the north. And since you seem to be dressed up like someone I _should _know."

She looked down at the dress and frowned.

_Bloody Rumpelstiltskin…._

He thought of something and frowned, "You're not someone's mistress, are you?"

She scowled, "No."

He seemed very confused, "Then how come I don't know you?"

Rumpelstiltskin came to stand next to her and rested a hand on her shoulder, "No."

Prince James paled when he saw her mentor but Dagmar knew that he was telling her '_no' _far more than he was telling the rather attractive man standing cross from her.

He pulled her away and guided her across the room, "You don't want him."

"Well why not; he seems like decent husband material."

"That's what most of the women here have tried to say too but James is NOT the settling down type. At least not for another twenty years. Besides, his kingdom is poor, on the brink of financial ruin, and the only way they can save it from being overtaken is if he fights a dragon plaguing the kingdom of King Midas; which I have just arranged. You'll probably be a widow before the year was up. There's no benefit into allying yourself with him."

"But his lips look so kissable!

"Attached to that idiotic looking face?

She turned looked at the pouting prince; oh he was right.

He pulled her to an adjoining room and pointed to a bald elderly man, "That's the king that you're looking to replace, to his right is his son that's in line for the throne."

Dagmar's eyes widened when she saw the prince. He was 6'5 and pure muscle with blonde hair, blue eyes, a chiseled feature and a manly jaw and did she miss his amazing body?

A few seconds of silence passed before she remembered where she was and who she was with and she scoffed and covered for herself, "He's not so great."


	8. Chapter 8

The rest of that evening, Dagmar trailed King Johann and the son of the same name.

These were the people whose ancestors had taken her kingdom from her. She had expected them to be hardened and malicious and larger than life with evil smirks and dead eyes. She's spent nights in the dark castle hating men whose faces she had never seen before.

But they had no resemblance to what she just imagined; they were just men.

IT didn't take long for the son to notice her trailing them. She imagined that it wasn't that hard. Rumpelstiltskin had made sure she looked extravagant; she knew she probably stood out.

They were talking about famine when she finally got the nerve to approach them. Two kings stood there as well as King Johann and two priests.

"We simply don't have enough to feed our population," the priest said, "We have people that will starve to death and with famine come crime and war."

Dagmar took a shaking breath, "Give them the temple granary."

All eyes turned to her and she felt as if she were standing naked in the middle of the entire ballroom.

"Those are…tithes to the gods' young one," The priest said, "A percentage given back to them in appreciation."

Dagmar tried to remember the texts, "Money is tithe and it's so that the priests can earn a living and support the work that they do. The amount of grain that is given every year is just rotting in the storage buildings anyway especially with the conditions they keep it in."

The priest bristled, "What does a woman know of these things?"

Prince Johann took a sip of water and studied her, "Who are you?"

"She came with the dark one," his father said with caution in his voice. She knew why he was worried. Whatever they did or said to her might go back to Rumpelstiltskin and that might anger him and he'd turn his wrath on their kingdoms.

"He cares little for me," she said, "Only the freedom I can give him."

"What freedom?" the king demanded, "Who are you?"

She heard the anger and sarcastic tone in his voice, "My name is Dagmar of the house of the Warrior King Jason and his lady Medea; the kingdom that your ancestors usurped. And I am taking _back _my throne."


	9. Chapter 9

"The kings of old went insane before they lost their thrones," Rumpelstiltskin snapped angrily and smack Dagmar on the back of the head with a towel, "What were you thinking?"

"They were just so condescending…I got…I got angry."

"You're going to be getting angry a lot when you're a queen, does that mean that you're going to endanger yourself with sheer stupidity every time?"

"I just put the plan in motion a little sooner than expected, what is the big deal-?"

"The big deal is that you've tipped them off. You had one job and that was NOT to reveal your true identity while we were at that event. Now they know we're coming and they have age old connections and allies to back them up and you've made our job far more difficult."

"It would've happened eventually," she reminded him.

"But it would've happened when they weren't expecting it."

"You dressed me up like a royal," she snapped, "People were trying to figure out who I was and all of a sudden you decided that you DON'T want me acting like a royal?"

"There are 52 lost families in the Enchanted forest that live in isolation and fear because of kingdoms that are either broken or were taken from them," Rumpelstiltskin snapped, "Until you opened your big yap, there was nothing to link you with any individual one. You're nowhere ready to take control of a realm, _PRINCESS. _There's still a lot you needed to learn and you've cut down that time by about a third."

He patted her shoulder condescendingly and she wanted to punch him.

"I knew that taking you was a bad idea, and trust me littlest duckling, this will be the last time that I EVER listen to anyone else other than my instinct when it comes to you."

She sighed and rubbed her temples, "So then what do we do?"

"They're having a council right now to see how they're going to solve this situation," he pulled his cloak on, "I'm going there to try and figure out how to quell the mess you made, tell the truth, and stop the possibility of assassins aiming for your window at night."

"You're leaving me here by myself," she asked with surprise, "That's a bit of a first with you."

"Oh dearie, you know the rules, the minute you step past that gate without me knowing…your plague will come back tenfold. So behave, don't eat too much and don't mount the horse without me there. I don't want to find you sprawled out face first on the ground."

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"She has a legitimate claim to her throne," Johann snapped and rubbed his temples.

King George rolled his eyes, his friend was such a drama queen sometimes, "She has a fleece, it hardly means she's the long lost ancestor of Jason and Medea."

"The fleece is all the proof she needs," Johann said angrily, "Once she gains the love of the people…which she will if she gets an army large enough to get her hands on the temple granary and uses it to feed the populations that we would lose...then she'll be unstoppable."

Prince James looked at his father, "Then squelch her army before she gets enough to destroy your family."

She has the imp on her side, if we try and argue against him then what do you think is going to happen to us?"

"Well, I imagine the scenario that goes on in your head doesn't come close to what I'd do to you if you send mercenaries to my gate."

Everyone paled and Rumpelstiltskin let out a giggle that made their blood run cold.

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After weeks of being stuck with the imp for company, Dagmar had to admit that having the whole castle to herself was a bit liberating. She didn't have to worry about dressing appropriately and she could lounge around without the fear of Rumpelstiltskin chasing her away to go learn something.

She took a relaxing bath and then spent the evening walking in the garden. She had to admit that it was a lot nicer when she didn't have to worry about getting one of those fancy dresses or shoes dirty.

Something rattled near the fence when the sun started to set and she looked up. NO one came up here this time of evening; they thought Rumpelstiltskin was at least a bit less terrifying if it was in the daylight.

She pulled her robe tighter around herself and walked towards the fence. She kept a knife strapped to her calf in case someone dangerous came to visit.

"Pardon me your majesty, I know it's late but I got lost on the way up here. Everyone in the villages laughed when I said I wanted to come up here as late as I did."

Dagmar squinted, "Prince Johann?"


	10. Chapter 10

Dagmar pressed her face through the bars of the gate, "What are you doing here?"

Johann smiled a charming smile as the wind lifted his hair, "I heard you were with the imp, I wanted to make sure it was willing."

She shrugged, "Well as willing as a 'you will be queen or you'll die of a plague' mentorship can be, I suppose."

"I can break this gate down. Take you home, rescue the maiden..."

"If I take one step outside these walls without him then the disease he healed me from comes back tenfold. Listen, I don't even want to be queen and I don't want your throne, I just wanted my golden fleece back but he sort of found me when I was trying to take it…"

"So you are the real queen."

"Yes."

"The descendant of Jason and Medea?" he furrowed his eyebrow, "But their children were killed…"

Dagmar smiled, "Not the youngest. One of the servants found him bleeding and smuggled him away. And my ancestors have been surviving ever since. And now I'm here to take back my throne because I was an idiot…a dying idiot but one none the less."

"You realize that he's going to use you while you sit on that throne."

"Yeah, he's been pretty honest about that," she muttered, "But I don't have a choice."

He sighed and wrapped his hands around the cage "May I come in for a bit?"

"He'll know."

"Let him know."

Dagmar stared at him, "Do you realize what he'd do if he found you here?"

"Well what's he going to do?" Johann asked, "Kill me? I suppose I'm a dead man if he decides to put you on the throne. I highly Doubt Rumpelstiltskin will allow any sort of competition like myself to be against you. And besides, I want to hear how exactly you plan to run the country after we lose our right to the throne. It wouldn't hurt to get to know the new queen either"

Dagmar pursed her lips, "You know that you'll lose it for a fact?"

"You have the Dark One supporting you; of course I know I'll lose it."

Dagmar thought about the repercussions of what might happen to him if Rumpelstiltskin found him here before she opened the gate, "Come on, let's see if we can find a way to get Rumpelstiltskin his way and keep all of you alive."

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Rumpelstiltskin had set his plan in motion over and over again throughout the centuries but something always fell short. He'd get his monster ready to cast the spell but he hadn't figured out how to bottle true love. Or he'd get his true loves together and have that true love baby but he STILL couldn't figure out how to bottle true love and his monster wasn't where he wanted them to be.

Regina and Snow White was the closest thing he had right now. Regina wasn't the worst monster he'd ever had as an apprentice but she was certainly up there. He expected that she'd be the one to cast the curse and Snow White' the epitome of purity and goodness would find her true love and have little true love babies for him to exploit, but he'd had his hopes dashed before.

He told Dagmar that she was just something for him to control on the throne but in reality, she was his backup plan. She was mule headed enough to find her true love instead of settling for an arranged marriage so he didn't have to worry about that, all he had to do was try and push the soon to be 'former' king and queen into enacting the curse after she found whoever it was and gave him a baby.

But that didn't seem to be going right, they were frustrated and angry but he didn't sense any evil or desperation brewing in them.

The queen had joined them in the council, which frustrated him far more than it should have. She was levelheaded and she'd undo all the anger that he was trying to stir up in the King.

The queen listened to them trying to negotiate and cleared her throat, "Alright, if she's a queen then she should be able to pass a simple test to prove her bloodline."

"Yes, that's usually how it goes" Rumpelstiltskin barely regarded her but answered it anyway.

"Then let's put it to the test," The queen said, "Because with all due respect, sir. While you don't lie…you don't exactly tell the truth either. Not all of it. And I want to make sure I know who I'm giving my throne to before I even think about the possibility of surrendering it."

Rumpelstiltskin sighed, oh this went against everything that he was hoping to accomplish but he didn't expect he'd get what he wanted done anyway. These people were _good. _Ugh, it left such a bad taste in his mouth.

"I suppose we can work something out," he said.

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Dagmar was finishing breakfast the morning after he returned from negotiations.

"I hope you're happy," he said and stopped when he smelled or…sensed that the pretty boy prince had been in this room. He stopped in surprise that she would dare let anyone into his castle and used his power to figure out if she had let him anywhere else but the main quarters.

She hadn't. IN fact it seemed like they just spent the night in the two chairs in front of the fireplace.

"Happy for what?" she asked while playing ignorant.

"I lost a night's sleep trying to clean up your mess."

She just stared at him, "Does evil incarnate even NEED to sleep."

That was beside the point and she knew it, "You have a test you have to pass by the end of the week. As per the deal I made, I'm not to tell you about it because apparently that would be cheating but it should prove your claim to the throne."

"Oh," she stood and gathered her plate, "That should be interesting."

"Yes, it'll prove you are who you say you are once and for all so you don't really need to worry about it."

"I won't," she said, started to pass him and then stopped, "Oh, and I'm getting married next week, just thought you should know."


	11. Chapter 11

"I can't believe you're considering marriage."

Dagmar looked at Rumpelstiltskin as they sat in the carriage together, "Well I can't believe you're throwing me in a test with no hint as to what it is so I suppose we're both disappointed."

He watched her, "If you suspect a trap then you get out of there as fast as possible. I'll get to you as soon as I can."

"I know," she muttered, "And I'm surprised Rumpelstiltskin, I thought that you would've been more eager to keep this marriage from happening."

"I already told you that I didn't care if you got married," he said. Her possible in laws may not be the monsters he needed to cast the curse but at least with the heirs she would produce he could try again if Regina's corruption fell through.

"I just figured you can't use my influence on the throne for your personal gain if I have a husband."

"Oh dearie, changing him over to our way of thinking is your job. Not mine."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"It shouldn't be that hard, you're a woman and he's a man."

She scowled, "You're disgusting."

He seemed proud of himself and looked out the window when the carriage rolled to a stop, "We're here."

"Why do we even need to ride here, you can jump through one land to another with just a thought!

"We need to make an entrance, dearie. You're going to be queen after all."

The door was opened by a nervous footman and Rumpelstiltskin stepped out first. He held out his hand and Dagmar took a few breathes before she reluctantly grabbed his hand and stepped out.

The castle was a lot more foreboding now that she knew that Rumpelstiltskin was going to give it to her. She'd never…well she lived with Rumpelstiltskin in his castle but she was just a guest with very few places that she had full access to. But this…she could go anywhere she wanted.

All of a sudden she felt very exposed and vulnerable. After this test and this marriage if she passed it…she wouldn't have any protection, not really. She wouldn't have friends here. People would try to kill her if they didn't agree with her ruling. She wouldn't have anyone to protect her like she did in Rumpelstiltskin's home.

"My lady," the king greeted and gave a curt bow, Dagmar realized that while he wasn't recognizing her officially as a queen until she passed his test…but the nod was his acceptance for who she was claiming to be, "Have you eaten?"

"Yes," she told him. Rumpelstiltskin made sure of that. He claimed he trusted the royal family not to poison her and incite his wrath but he wasn't so sure about the servants.

"Very well then," he said, "Let's just get this done."

"If you need anything," Rumpelstiltskin, "Just open your window."

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Dagmar felt the cold steel of the blade strapped to her calf as she followed the guards and the king to the tower. She was used to traveling up stairs like this in the dark castle but they'd just travelled a full day with barely any breaks so her legs were cramping.

They opened the door and she walked in and her eyes grew when she saw what was in front of her, "What is _this?!" _

"Goodnight, my lady," the king said and turned around to leave, "Please don't stray from this room."

Dagmar waited until she was certain he was gone before she took a breath, "This is ridiculous."

She crossed over to the room and opened the window.


	12. Chapter 12

Rumpelstiltskin knew that Dagmar was going to call him into the bedroom but he didn't expect it to be as quickly as it was.

Nor did he expect to be staring at…oh, he was pretty sure they missed the entire point with the test when he suggested that they go this route.

Sixteen mattresses sat in front of him. The canopy had been taken down and Rumpelstiltskin was sure that Dagmar was not going to be able to turn over without brushing against the celling.

"That's um…that's quite a few mattresses," Dagian muttered.

Rumpelstiltskin nodded, "At least you'll be comfortable…I suppose."

"I wonder if there's something in there between them somewhere."

Rumpelstiltskin visibly blanched, "Dagmar!"

"Oh come on! It's bloody obvious! Either that or they shoved me in the storage room. And I don't think that's the latter because you'd probably be insulted and I'd never hear the end of it and they'd be dead."

He sighed, "This is supposed to prove your identity."

"So having common sense proves that I'm a long lost queen?"

"If having common sense was a requirement for royalty, things would be far different and my job would be far harder," he muttered and pulled his jacket further around his body, "Goodnight Dagmar."

Dagmar waited until he was gone before she got ready for bed and climbed the ladder sat out for her and settled into the goose feather quilt and pillows that they'd set out for her.

"Wonderful," she whispered as she tried to get comfortable, "I'm exhausted, dealing with insane royals and insane imps and now something small and hard is digging into my spine."

She bet one of those stupid springs came loose.


	13. Chapter 13

The morning after Dagmar spent the night in the castle, they waited for her to be escorted down to breakfast. The queen paced the dining room fitfully; the king sat in his seat at the head of the table. The only sound was the queen's heels against the floor and it annoyed Rumpelstiltskin. He had faced the chair to look out the window just so that he wouldn't have to look at these people. They didn't serve his purpose, he didn't care about them anymore, he just wanted to get this over with.

She wasn't going to be the mother of his true love couple; her future in-laws weren't dark enough to actually cause the curse. He was only here to be a chaperone and get her married off and move on.

"She should be down here by now," the queen muttered.

"Well no doubt she would be if she was who she said she was," the king looked towards Rumpelstiltskin.

"She is the heir of the kingdom," Rumpelstiltskin said for what felt like the hundredth time this morning.

"I don't know why we even participated in this," the king muttered, "What does it matter if she is who she says she is? What good is a test if the Dark One is allied with her? Even if she doesn't pass, then he can just wipe us out and put his puppet on the throne."

"Careful how you use your words sir," Rumpelstiltskin said in a mocking voice,

The door opened and a guard walked through and moved for Dagmar. Rumpelstiltskin heard the collective gasps and saw from the reflection in the window that her shoulders sagged in exhaustion. Her eyes had dark circles and she couldn't stop yawning.

"Sorry I kept everyone waiting," she muttered and plopped down.

"Sleep well?" the king asked.

"Not very," she rubbed her eyes, "While I'm grateful that you wanted me comfortable by giving me every mattress in the castle but I'm pretty sure I felt three springs poking into my back…or something else small and hard and now that I realized how dirty that sounded, I wish I hadn't said it like that."

'You're the queen," Rumpelstiltskin said and looked at the royals' or…formally royal faces that were frowning in front of him, "You can say whatever you want now."

She looked at them, confused, "I'm sorry, I just traveled a whole day and then barely slept last night…what?"

The king stood up, he looked like he'd aged several years in the past few seconds, "We'll get the arrangements started."

Rumpelstiltskin brushed past the former queen and looked over Dagmar, "You're slouching, what did I teach you when you first agreed to work under my teaching?"

"I'm queen; I can slouch if I want to."

"Not when you're in the room with me," he forced her shoulders up.

"Okay, when I said that I thought there was something in the mattresses, I wasn't completely sure of what I was talking about…"

"You passed the test dearie," he explained, "Only a true princess could feel the three peas that we put in between the mattresses…normally it would only be one pea but they worried you might not feel that…"

"Really?" she asked, "That was my test?"

He shrugged, "Royals."

"Indeed," she rubbed her eyes, "Well now what?"

"Well, now we get you're rested because your wedding is tomorrow dearie."


	14. Chapter 14

Rumpelstiltskin hated weddings…or at least he hated royal ones. They never invited him and so he came uninvited because it was the principal of the thing then to add insult to injury, the bloody things never ended. He had to deal with two hours of the ceremony and another two hours of the reception and then three hours of dancing and then gift opening.

And he wasn't looking forward to ANY of that, especially not today. He had curse making to do.

And it was ironic because Dagmar had actually invited him.

He knocked on the door to her chambers and waited as the handmaiden opened the door and then paled when she saw that it was him.

"Pardon the intrusion but is her majesty presentable?"

Dagmar was standing on a footstool, looking completely miserable as they piled on what looked like far more underskirts than she could actually move in.

"You look ridiculous," He told her.

Dagmar looked at the handmaidens, "Leave us."

They didn't need to be told twice.

"You don't look any better," she said and struggled to turn so that she could face him, "since when are gold pants fashionable?"

"I make them fashionable dearie," he taunted, "How exactly are you holding all that up?"

"Not even I know," she said, "But my husband to be wanted a nice big wedding and I thought that since I want the people to like me then I should at least amuse _this _idea."

He saw the love on her face though; she was excited even though she tried not to show it.

"So you mean that after I had to nearly tackle you to get you to wear a corset and then a dress, all I had to do is tell you that your future husband might like it if you did?"

"Oh stop Rumpelstiltskin, it's not like you really counted on me getting married anyway," she teased but then frowned; 'Do you think he really loves me?"

"I do," He said even though he thought them deciding to marry was rather quick but then again they took more time than most of the crazy kids these days, "If not, I'll kill him."

She smiled at him he put his hand on the side of her face.

"Do you think they'd bristle if you walked me down the aisle?"

"I'm not staying for the wedding," he told her although the idea did amuse him, "I have work that I need to do."

"After all you put me through," she said with a small smile.

"My gift to you is that I won't bother you unless you or I desperate need it. Hopefully you'll never see me again."

At least not if his corrupting of Regina panned out.

"I thought you wanted to control me."

"I put you on the throne for a just in case measure mostly, but if I need you then I'll most definitely rear my head."

"Aw the castle's going to be quiet, and here I was getting used to our little games of banter that we have."

He smiled and kissed her on the cheek, "You will be a good queen."

"Doubt it," she said, "But it'll be fun to try."

He grimaced at the size of her skirts again and waved his hand. The dress appeared on her.

"There are far more skirts that need to go on," she told him.

"That's fine," he said, "We wouldn't want your husband to get lost in all that cloth trying to undress you on your wedding night."

"Oh, look at you being inappropriate."

"Hey, you've said worse."

She smiled, "Point taken."

"Have a good reign Dagmar," he said, he didn't add 'while it lasts' because it didn't seem like appropriate words for a coronation and wedding, "Look on the bright side of all this, if your husband is as fertile as his ancestors have shown to be then you'll be expecting your first heir by the end of the year."

"Want to be the midwife?"

"I think I'll let the professional's handle it," he said, "I'm so squeamish at the sight of blood."

"I imagine," she muttered

He gave a sweeping bow and walked out of the door and when he walked into the empty hallway, he realized that this sort of silence was now what he had to look forward to when he got home.

Perfect, now that he was used to having someone there, how did he get used to the silence?

Well unless he brought someone there to be with him.

He tried to think, there were plenty of village peasants that he could drag into the castle with him he supposed…some of the women had an…unhealthy liking to him for some reason.

No, it would be more ironic if he did it another way. He'd just taken a peasant and turned her into royalty. Now maybe he should take a royal and turn her into a peasant. It would be fitting considering they always tried to double back on the deals he allowed them to have. This would be his way of spitting in their faces.

He heard Maurice had a daughter that was betrothed to a knight…they'd been asking him for help from the oncoming ogres. Everyone talked about her virtue and honor…

Perhaps it was time he put that to the test.

**The End.**


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